1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a working mechanism for operating at least one joint shaft of a working unit by rotating pulleys based on circulative rotation of flexible power transmitting members such as wires or the like wound around the pulleys, and a manipulator having such a working mechanism on its distal end for performing manipulating actions from the other end thereof through an arm or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
According to laparoscopic surgery, it is customary to form a plurality of holes in the abdominal part of the patient, insert an endoscope and a manipulator (or forceps) into the respective holes, and perform the surgical operation while images captured by the endoscope are being observed on a display monitor by the surgeon. Since such a laparoscopic surgical operation does not require the abdominal cavity to be opened, the burden on the patient is small and the number of days which the patient needs to recover and spend in the hospital until they are allowed to come out of hospital is greatly reduced. For these reasons, the laparoscopic surgical operation is expected to find an increased range of applications.
Manipulators for use in laparoscopic surgery are desirably capable of quick and appropriate surgical techniques depending on the position and size of the affected region, and are used to perform various surgical techniques like suture, ligature, knot-tying and removing of the affected part of the patient. The present applicant has developed and proposed manipulators which have a high degree of freedom for manipulation and which can easily be operated (see, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-102248 and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2004-301275). This application claims priority to Japanese Laid-Open Patent Puublication No. 2006-215901.